Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is our commitment. That is what the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, are working towards to make sure that happens and also for future years. The growth in numbers identifying with additional needs is growing exponentially. If one looks at the most recent census compared with previous censuses, one can see that there has been a significant increase. There are now 3,336 special classes. There will be a further 372 on top of that. We have 124 special schools, 11 of which have opened since 2020. Five more will open this year. There are now 23,400 special needs assistants and 20,800 special education teachers in our schools. That is no consolation to those currently facing issues but it provides an illustration of the enormous part of education provision that is focused and targeted at additional needs education or special needs education, as it may have been termed differently in recent times. That will grow, and we will provide resources to enable it to happen. The focus has to be on a better planning system in terms of a common application, which is part of the programme for Government and to which we are committed.

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